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Changes in Producers' Perceptions of Within-Field Yield Variability after Adoption of Cotton Yield Monitors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

Roderick M. Rejesus
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
Michele C. Marra
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
Roland K. Roberts
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
Burton C. English
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
James A. Larson
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
Kenneth W. Paxton
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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This article investigates how information from cotton yield monitors influences the perceptions of within-field yield variability of cotton producers. Using yield distribution modeling techniques and survey data from cotton producers in 11 southeastern states, we find that cotton farmers who responded to the survey tend to underestimate within-field yield variability (by approximately 5-18%) when not using site-specific yield monitor information. Results further indicate that surveyed cotton farmers who responded to a specific question about yield monitors place a value of approximately $20/acre/year (on average) on the additional information about within-field yield variability that the yield monitor technology provides.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2013

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